Mariam Alaurm gingerly slices the cucumbers on a mandoline for a salad as other Syrian women cut eggplants and roll meatballs for the ready-to-go meals their young enterprise is selling.

Between stirring sauces in pans and mixing the Sfouf — a light semolina cake with anise, vanilla, coconut, black sesame seeds and pistachio — they catch up with one another about their new lives, English classes, kids in school and news from back home.

For almost two years, the Newcomer Kitchen, housed in the Depanneur, a culinary incubator on College St., has been the weekly gathering place for Syrian newcomer women, where they share stories and experiences, as well as joy and tears — all while using their cooking skills to make food for catering and meals for the public.

“It makes me happy to be here. I miss cooking with my two daughters (still in Jordan),” said Alaurm, who took two buses and a subway ride from her Etobicoke home with her 2-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter to be here on a bitterly cold day.

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“I feel at home here. This kitchen brings me back to Syria. The people here are like the big family that I used to have,” said the 57-year-old widow, who was resettled here by the Canadian government in January 2016 with three of her seven children and their families after being stranded in Jordan for four years.

But the Newcomer Kitchen may soon become history as the social enterprise is running out of money and is scheduled to shutter in January.

Registered as a non-profit in October 2016, the group has relied on donations to run the kitchen for ingredients and supplies.

For almost two years, Syrian newcomer women have come to Newcomer Kitchen, housed at The Depanneur, to earn a living by doing catering and cooking workshops while learning English and creating a sense of community. (Carlos Osorio / The Toronto Star)

Although the Depanneur has donated the space for free, and volunteers give their time for fundraising, promotion and co-ordination (Foodora also waives its $10 delivery charges for each meal), the program has become unsustainable without core administrative funding.

Newcomer Kitchen was initiated by Len Senater and Cara Benjamin-Pace in March 2016 as a social program to support the growing number of government-sponsored Syrian refugees stranded in isolation in hotels for weeks and months while waiting for permanent housing.

Participating women would come to the kitchen every Thursday to cook traditional Syrian food together and bring the food home for their families.

After moving out of their temporary shelter at the hotels, the women have continued to gather weekly at the kitchen but decided to start catering events and selling prepared and packaged meals online for pickup or delivery, with revenues split among members after deductions for the cost of ingredients.

Since the commercial operation started 18 months ago, the kitchen has paid the 60-plus women over $75,000 for their labour.

“There is so much potential to grow. Catering and cooking and workshop requests pour in. However, without core funding to support the administrative and management and logistical support, the program can’t survive,” said Benjamin-Pace.

Rahaf Alakbani (middle) transfers the eggplant with the help of Njah Abdlbaki (right). The popular Newcomer Kitchen is at risk of shuttering on January 1 because of a lack of funds. (Carlos Osorio / Toronto Star)

Filmmaker Kelli Kieley, who is finishing her feature film Shway Shway (Little by Little) about the women at the Newcomer Kitchen, also decided to donate 35 per cent of the $55,000 fund needed for the movie’s production through crowd-funding to the program. With the online fundraising campaign ending on Monday, only 16 per cent of money was raised.

They have applied for funding from various foundations, federal and provincial governments but have yet to secure the money.

Rahaf Alakbani, a co-ordinator of the group of women, said many of the members keep coming back even after they have moved out of the city with their families.

“Coming here is a break for them,” said the 26-year-old, who left her parents and three siblings, and was resettled to Canada with her husband Esmaeel Abofakher from Lebanon in February 2016.

“We all live far away from each other and come here to hang out together. We left our families and we all miss home badly. This place makes us feel like home and everyone is our family.”

Alaurm wept when she learned of the news from Alakbani. “I just feel so sad and disappointed. I will pray for the program to continue and for a miracle to happen,” she said before leaving the cosy kitchen with her granddaughter in the stroller.